Glossary

A typical Employment- Work that is other than full-time and permanent, including part-time, evening and weekend work, fixed-term work, temporary or sub-contract home-based work, telework (telecommuting in the U.S.) and outwork. (See also: Alternative Staffing)

Accruals- The accounting basis that brings items to account as they are earned or incurred (and not as cash is received or paid) and includes them in financial statements in the related accounting period. Accrual-based accounting can provide improved visibility into a company's cash flow and financing requirements. For example, companies that "draw down" from purchase orders as services are used can use accrual-based accounting to help understand how that usage is impacting the company's finances overall.

Administrative Fee- The additional fee charged to a client (subscriber) by a an MSP or a VMS service providing organization to cover selling, general and administrative costs for administering the contingent worker program (defined as "Operating Costs" in Europe) over and above the costs of contingent worker salary, taxes and benefits provided. This fee is usually expressed as a percent of bill rate and often, but not always, passed on to the suppliers within the program.

Agency - A shorthand term that has come to apply to any staffing firm providing temporary or direct hire services. (See also: Employment Agency.)

Agency Contractor- A term used to refer to temporary employees provided by a staffing agency. Often used in contrast to independent contractors. (See also: Temporary Employee.)

Agency Work- Preferred terminology used by CIETT and by certain European social partners to describe temporary staffing provided through a staffing company. Hence "Agency Work Business" (AWB) and Agency Worker. The term "Agency Worker" is a U.K. legal term used to refer to an individual who is engaged by an Employment Business (see definition) to perform labour for one or more of the Employment Business' clients. There is a contractual relationship between the Agency Worker and the Employment Business and the Agency Worker is paid by the Employment Business. There is no contractual relationship between the Agency Worker and the end user client. Direction and control of the Agency Worker is exclusively the responsibility of the user client.

Agency Workers' Directive (AWD)- A European Union Directive agreed upon in November 2008 that seeks to improve the quality of temporary agency work by applying the principle of non-discrimination and to address unnecessary restrictions and prohibitions on the use of temporary agency work in the European Union. Under the Directive, an agency worker will be entitled to equal treatment (at least the basic working and employment conditions that would apply to the workers concerned if they had been recruited directly by that undertaking to occupy the same job. "Equal treatment" relates only to basic working and employment conditions of temporary agency workers (e.g., pay, working time) and does not affect the employment status of temporary workers. As with all EU Directives, the purpose of the AWD is to harmonize the law across the common market. Though it was originally proposed in 2002, the British government and others blocked its enactment until 2008. However, the U.K. government was successful in negotiating a derogation whereby equal treatment will only apply in the U.K. after 12 weeks in a given temporary job. All EU member states must amend laws and regulations in order to comply with the AWD by Dec. 5, 2011.

Alliance- A business relationship between a supplier and a customer, or among two or more suppliers, usually involving joint product development or joint marketing efforts.

Alternative Staffing- A very imprecise term that describes the gamut of non traditional work arrangements available to organizations other than regular, direct and full-time employment. Alternative staffing arrangements include temporary help, leased worker arrangements, home-based work and contract employment. Alternative staffing arrangements may be made through a third-party contractor or directly negotiated between an employer and an employee. (See also: Atypical Employment)

Applicant- An individual seeking employment (with a temporary help firm, technical services firm, through an employment agency or directly with a company). In most countries, after hiring, a temporary worker is regarded as an employee, not an applicant, of the temporary help company.

Applicant Paid Fee (APF)- The applicant pays the fee to the employment agency upon placement in a permanent job. APF business was common in the early years of permanent placement, but now accounts for a very small portion of total placement revenue. (See also: Employer Paid Fee.) In most European countries, applicant paid fees are legally forbidden for the assignment of temporary workers, except in case of additional training or for CV-drafting services.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)- A software application that enables the electronic handling of corporate recruitment needs. Most incorporate a company Web site, enabling companies to post jobs onto their own Web site, as a way to attract candidates. The ATS solutions store these candidate data inside a database to enable effective searching, filtering and routing of applications. Applicant tracking systems developed with recruiting and staffing firms in mind differ somewhat from those with a corporate HR orientation. The former typically include more reporting features, and more comprehensive tools for managing contacts, clients and candidates.

Application Service Provider (ASP)- An ASP manages a software application for a client, typically hosting, maintaining and updating the application as part of a standard per-user monthly fee. ASP applications can be off-the-shelf or involve some degree of customization, and often enable users to access the application via a standard Web browser.

Assign- The act of deploying a temporary employee on a specific work-engagement.

Assignment- A task or duty being performed by a contingent worker (i.e., a requisition for a temp, or each on boarded consultant associated with a consulting engagement). Assignment may also refer to the period of time that a temporary employee is working at an organization's facility; however, change orders such as extensions, do not count as separate assignments. Assignment length is regulated in many European markets. (See also: Place.)

Assignment- The process of recruiting a candidate for a specific position with an employer, usually a senior managerial position. A search may be contracted on a retained or contingency basis. (See also: Contingency Recruiting, Retained Search.)

Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS)- The Bureau of Labour Statistics is the principal fact-finding agency for the federal government in the field of labour economics and statistics. The BLS is an independent national statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other federal agencies, state and local governments, business and labour organizations. The BLS also serves as a statistical resource to the Department of Labour. In Europe, every country has its own statistics authority but, for members of the European Union, national data are also captured and collated by Eurostat.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)- An outsourcing relationship in which a third-party vendor is hired to take over and run a client's business processes. In such cases, the BPO provider takes full responsibility for the business process and does not just supply technology to facilitate the processes. Specific examples of business process outsourcing include Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO), in which a third party takes over all or part of the HR function, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), in which a third party takes over just the candidate recruiting function for HR.

Candidate- An applicant for a job who has been pre-qualified for temp or full-time consideration. Also used to distinguish an individual from a pool of unqualified applicants.

Casual Labour- See Day Labor.

CDD- Contrat à Durée Determinée: French legal equivalent of a temporary employment contract, concluded directly between the employer and an employee. Legally, a CDD does not differ a lot from a contract for a temporary worker hired through a temporary agency, except that the latter requires three participants: the user company, the temporary agency and the temporary worker. In practice, CDDs are often used for longer assignments.

CDI- Contrat à Durée Indéterminée; French Legal equivalent of a permanent employment contract.

Co-employment (Co-employer)- Legally referred to as a "Joint Employer" relationship, co-employment is often used to describe the relationship among two or more organizations that exert some level of control over the same worker or group of workers. Co-employers often share some degree of liability for shared employees. (See also: Joint Employment.)

Collective Labor Agreement (CLA)- A CLA is a labour contract between an employer and one or more unions and is common throughout continental Europe. Collective bargaining consists of the process of negotiation between representatives of a union and employers (represented by management, or in some countries by an employer organization) involving terms and conditions of employment, such as wages, hours of work, working conditions and grievance-procedures, and about the rights and responsibilities of trade unions. The parties often refer to the result of the negotiation as a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or as a collective employment agreement (CEA). CLAs can be negotiated at a company, regional or national level. Staffing agencies in the Netherlands have their own Collective Labour Agreement, which applies to many sectors and which is administered by ABU, the Dutch staffing Association, Uledi the Luxembourgish staffing association, as well as the Banking, Transport & Building sector

Commercial Staffing- A segment of temporary staffing that includes, but is not limited to, workers with the skills, knowledge and training required for occupations in light industrial, office/clerical and general labour categories. Sometimes referred to as "Traditional Staffing» or "Generalist Staffing."

Compressed Workweek- A standard workweek of 35 to 40 hours that has been compressed into three or four days of 9 to 12 hours. Sometimes referred to as "four-tens," meaning four 10-hour workdays.

Consolidated Invoicing- The combination of invoices from multiple sources (such as staffing suppliers) into a single invoice.

Consultant- A term often used interchangeably with "temporary employee," though typically one performing professional-level work in areas such as IT, Engineering or Management Consulting Services. (See also: Temporary Employee.) Confusingly, in some European countries "Consultant" is also the term commonly used to describe the front-office staff in a temporary work agency.

Contingency Placement- The practice of charging a fee to either the applicant or the employer only after a successful referral of the applicant to the employer for employment. (See also: Retained Search.)

Contingency Recruiting (Search)- Refers to senior-level recruitment or executive-level searches most likely undertaken by an executive search firm. The executive search firm takes responsibility for the initial recruiting, screening and interviewing with payment of all (or most) of the fee contingent on the hiring of a referred candidate into a traditional employment role. (See also: Retained Search)

Contingent Work/Worker- Used to describe work arrangements that differ from regular/permanent, direct wage and salary employment. Contingent workers most often include temporary employees provided by an outside staffing agency and independent contractors/consultants. Contingent workers may also include temporary workers from an internal pool, and others (such as summer interns) employed directly by an organization for an intentionally limited time period. They do not include work done by consulting firms or by part-time regular employees, and are primarily distinguished by an explicitly defined tenure. Self-employed individuals should only be defined as contingent workers if they provide themselves as contract labour to other organizations. Otherwise, they should not be included in the contingent workforce, because they may have stable occupations or careers that are clearly not conditional. Workers in Professional Employer Organization (see definition) arrangements are not contingent workers, because the relationship is by definition ongoing. Outsourcing also falls outside of the contingent work definition, because it defines a vendor-supplier relationship, not an employer-worker relationship. The "contingent worker" label applies to all workers of any skill type or experience level who meet this definition, including those in professional, blue-collar, or office/clerical roles.

Contract Services- Well-defined services delivered by an individual or organization as laid out in a contract.

Contractor- An individual hired to deliver a specified service as laid out in a contract. In some organizations this term is used interchangeably with "temporary employee" to refer to individuals employed by a temporary staffing firm, typically at a professional level. (See also: Independent Contractor.)

Conversion Fee- Compensation fee paid to a temporary staffing firm for the loss of an employee when the staffing firm's customer hires the temporary employee on a direct-hire basis. In the United States, this is also known as Liquidated Damages. In Europe, the Conversion Fee may be defined or restricted under law. (Some full-service firms prefer to charge a "placement fee" rather than a conversion fee when this occurs. Many firms allow the conversion fee to be negotiated over a certain period on the temporary assignment.). (See also: Temporary-to-Permanent.)

Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)- An executive agency of the U.K. Home Office, set up to help organizations make safer recruitment decisions. The CRB acts as a "one-stop-shop" for organizations, checking police records and, in relevant cases, information held by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). In the United Kingdom, staffing companies are legally obliged to undertake CRB checks for candidates put forward for any temporary assignments that include working with children or vulnerable adults. Note: In contrast, within some markets, such as the Netherlands, criminal record (and health checks) are forbidden by law.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)- Software that enables users to track and manage customer or prospect contacts and information centrally. Ideally, all customer contacts are captured by the system and then made available to the organization through pre-defined or ad-hoc reports.

Day Labour- The provision of temporary workers to clients on a daily-pay, daily-availability basis, often on a multiple-worker basis. Day labour offices typically provide unskilled labour such as construction and may include transportation to and from the job site.

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)- Days Sales Outstanding is a company's average collection period. A low number of days indicate that the company collects its outstanding receivables quickly. The DSO figure is an index of the relationship between outstanding receivables and sales achieved over a given period. This is a critical consideration for staffing firms that are required (by law in some countries) to pay employees on a frequent basis (normally weekly) while receiving payment from clients could take significant amounts of time. In Europe, DSO is more commonly referred to as Debtor Days.

Direct Employment- A two-way direct employment relationship between a worker and an employer, with no third-party broker or co-employer involved.

Direct Hire- A term commonly used to refer to services provided by a staffing agency related to helping an organization obtain an employee to work on their payroll as opposed to temporary staffing relationship where the employee is typically working on the staffing firm's payroll. (See also: Permanent Placement, Placement.)

Direct Sourcing- A term commonly used to refer to the process by which a company leverages its own internal candidate pool (i.e.: former employees, retirees, applicants from own ATS) to place within the company as temporary employees. These temporary employees are most often placed on the payroll of a third party payroll provider.

Diversity Supplier- In North America, this refers to a minority- or women-owned staffing supplier. Organizations often find that using diversity suppliers as part of their staffing supplier base is a good way to meet their diversity recruitment goals. (See also: Women and Minority Business Enterprise). In Europe, a Diversity Supplier could be taken to mean a supplier with an equal opportunities policy in place, which ensures equal treatment for temporary workers from disadvantaged minority groups.

Employee- Whether full- or part-time, exempt or non-exempt, the term employee is generally accepted as one who receives a W-2 (or equivalent outside the United States). See W-2 Employees.

Employee Leasing/Staff Leasing- At times a technical and legal term. Defined as a contractual relationship under which (1) the leasing company assigns workers to client locations and thereby assumes responsibility as an employer of the leased workers assigned to the client location; (2) direction and control of the leased employee are the right and responsibility of the leasing company and may be shared with the client consistent with the client's responsibility for its product or service; (3) the leasing company pays and reports wages and employment taxes of the leased employee out of its own accounts; (4) the employment relationship between the leasing company and its leased employees is intended to be long-term and not temporary; and (5) the leasing company retains the right to hire, reassign and fire the leased employees. (See also: Professional Employer Organization, Professional Employer Services, Employer of Record.)

Employer of Record (EOR)- The company or department in a company that is legally responsible for paying wages, employees' taxes etc. (See also: PEO.)

Employer Paid Fee (EPF)- The hiring organization pays the fee to the employment agency for a permanent placement. The fee may be based on the salary of the position or a flat fee. (See also: Applicant Paid Fee.)

Employment Agency (Private)- A for-profit, private entity that brings together a job seeker and a prospective employer, for a fee, for the purpose of effecting a traditional employment relationship. In the vast majority of cases the fee is paid by the new employer. This term is also frequently applied to temporary staffing firms. PrEA (Private Employment Agency) is the preferred acronym used by CIETT and by certain European social partners to describe an entity that provides both temporary recruitment and permanent placement as well as certain other related activities. The use of the word "Private" from a European perspective is to provide a clear differentiation from public organizations that, in some markets, historically offered these services. (See also: Employment Business)

Employment Business- This is a U.K. legal term for a business engaged in Labour Contracting, one that supplies labour to third party clients using Agency Workers. This term should not be confused with Employment Agency. Although a labour contractor is sometimes referred to as an employment agency, from a legal perspective, it means an organization providing services for the purpose of finding workers employment. (See also: Employment Agency)

Executive Search- Refers to the process of recruiting for senior-level managers or professionals to be employed as traditional employees. It is usually done in a "retained" capacity, where the search firm is paid a fee regardless of the success of the search.

Facilities Management- The ongoing management of an entire facility, function, or department at a customer site, usually including responsibility for hiring, training, and management of staff, as well as the provision of equipment and supplies necessary to perform the contracted function by an outside vendor. Assigned staff are usually permanent employees of the service provider, though temporaries may also be used in a routine or supplemental way. Responsibility for the product or service rests completely with the supplier, so these are (ostensibly) not temporary- or leased-employee arrangements. (See also: Employee Leasing, Sole Employer.)

Facilities Staffing- The provision of temporary workers to handle a particular facility, department or function for an organization. Although first-line supervision of these workers is sometimes managed through the temporary employer, ultimate supervision and management responsibility for the product or service of the department, or the outsourced function, is retained by the customer. Typically, these are considered to be "temporary help" arrangements, even though they may be for an indefinite period. Facilities staffing is often sold as a way to maintain high productivity in high-turnover, high-burnout positions such as telephone work, data-entry operations, or repetitive assembly work.

Factoring- A generic term sometimes used to convey the use of various non-traditional work approaches, such as contingent employment arrangements, planned staffing strategies or flexible work arrangements. In general business terms, factoring has an alternative meaning and refers to a transaction in which invoices or accounts receivable are sold for immediate payment generally to improve cash flow. The receivables are pledged as collateral and the business may draw cash against the eligible accounts receivable at any time. Also known as business receivable financing, it is not a loan, so there is no need to make payments or create debt to the business. The rates charged to staffing firms for factoring range from 1% to 5%, depending on client mix. This is very common with smaller staffing firms, where managing cash flow is a critical concern.

Flexible Staffing- A generic term used to convey the use of various non-traditional work approaches, such as contingent employment arrangements, planned staffing strategies or flexible work arrangements. Also commonly referred to as Flex Work in continental Europe.

Flexible Staffing- A generic term used to convey the use of various non-traditional work approaches, such as contingent employment arrangements, planned staffing strategies or flexible work arrangements. Also commonly referred to as Flex Work in continental Europe.

Flexicurity- A portmanteau of flexibility and security is a European term used to denote a welfare state model combined with a pro-active labour market policy. The term was first coined by the social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, in the 1990s and refers to the combination of both labour market flexibility as well as security for workers. The European Commission considers flexicurity as an integrated strategy to be implemented across four policy components: 1) flexible and reliable contractual arrangements, 2) comprehensive lifelong learning strategies, 3) effective active labour market policies and 4) modern social security systems providing adequate income support during transitions. In a 2003 report by the Lisbon Employment Taskforce, "Jobs, jobs, jobs - creating more employment in Europe," temporary work was highlighted as an important component of the flexicurity model.

Flexitime or Flexi-time- Work schedules that permit flexible starting and quitting times, usually within limits set by management.

Franchise- An independently owned local unit of a staffing supplier that acts as a franchisor. A franchise agreement usually includes an authorization to sell staffing services in a particular place. As typically executed among staffing suppliers, in a franchise relationship, as opposed to a licensee relationship, the temporary employees are usually employed and paid by the franchisee, not the franchisor. Staffing companies with franchises typically include in their revenue only the fee they earn from franchisees, not the total system sales of their franchise network. (See also: Licensee.)

Freelancer- A term used to refer to an independent contractor, usually focused on creative, writing or IT-programming work. (See also: Independent Contractor.)

Full Service- Historically this refers to the provision of both temporary help and permanent placement by a single staffing agency. Today, as staffing services provide an ever-broader array of human resource consulting and strategic staffing options, full-service also has a much broader connotation, implying a complete set of staffing solutions that may also include executive search, career consulting, PEO arrangements, vendor management, on-premise responsibilities, contract employee management, and HR consulting.

Full-time Equivalent (FTE)- A measure of workforce size in which the total hours worked are divided by the contractual hours in a full-time job (2,080 hours in the United States), regardless of the number of individuals employed in a certain entity (company, region, sector etc.).

Gain Sharing- The sharing of cost savings and/or other non-monetary benefits between a client and the service provider. Usually tied to stated savings objectives or other goals. Gain Sharing is a feature of some managed services contracts.

General Employer- A U.S. legal term usually referring to the staffing company employer, in a co-employer or joint employer relationship, that is maintaining the employee on a payroll. While not common, confusingly, the term may sometimes be used in a European context but could refer to other types of employment relationships (See also: Special Employer.)

Gross Margin- The difference between the bill rate for the temporary services and the direct costs of employment (pay rate plus burden and/or mandatory benefits. In the United States, burden will include workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, employer's share of FICA and state or local taxes for each temporary employee on assignment. In Europe, mandatory benefits vary per market but will generally include employment tax and social insurances. Staffing company gross margins vary per country and per staffing category depending on the perceived value-add of the service provided, which can be affected by issues as varied as unit labour cost, social acceptance, competition and idle-time management. Expressed as a percentage, this term is often incorrectly confused with markup, whereas gross margin is a percentage of the hourly bill rate before Value Added Tax, and markup is a percentage of the temporary worker's hourly gross wage. (See also: Markup.)

Group Purchasing Organization (GPO)- An entity that is created to leverage the purchasing power of a group of businesses to obtain discounts from vendors based on their collective buying power. Many GPOs are funded by administrative fees that are paid by those vendors that the respective GPO oversees. Some GPOs are funded by fees paid by the buying members. Still other GPOs are funded by a combination of both of these methods. These fees can be set as a percentage of the purchase or set as an annual flat rate. Some GPOs set mandatory participation levels for their members, while others are completely voluntary. Members participate based on their purchasing needs and their level of confidence in what should be competitive pricing negotiated by their GPOs. Group purchasing is used in many industries and countries to purchase raw materials and supplies, but it is common practice in the grocery industry, healthcare, electronics, industrial manufacturing and agricultural industries. GPOs are also known as Group Buying Networks (GPN).

Head-hunter- A rather colloquial description of an individual or company providing executive search services.

Headcount- A measure of workforce size that counts all people equally, as individuals, regardless of their hours of work or number of assignments over the course of the calendar year.

Healthcare Staffing Services- Within the temporary help sector, this segment includes supplemental staffing to medical facilities (hospitals, nursing homes and outpatient clinics), as well as the provision of licensed nursing personnel (RNs, LVNs in the United States), trained (medical technologists), and unlicensed staff (home health aides, homemakers, personal assistants, etc.) to home healthcare agencies.

Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO)- An example of Business Process Outsourcing. (See also: Business Process Outsourcing.)

Hybrid Program- A contingent workforce program management strategy that involves blending different sourcing model attributes. Typically, a hybrid program would include elements of vendor-neutral as well as master-supplier programs. For example, a buyers might engage a single provider to act as the sole supplier for its Light Industrial job requisitions while having multiple providers competitively bid on IT positions.

In sourcing- This term is sometimes used to define outsourcing from the reference point of the new vendor service provider, which imports employees to a customer location to handle a customer's outsourced function. More recently, it has been used by some technical services companies to refer to the provision of computer staff and its immediate supervision at a customer site, where responsibility for the data processing facilities, hardware, and overall systems remains with the client. This is essentially the same concept as "facilities staffing." In some cases, the staffing supplier "in sources" its computer operators to sites that have been "outsourced" to other vendors.

In-house Temporary- A temporary employee hired directly by a company, rather than through a staffing firm, to perform various "temporary" assignments at that company as part of an "in-house pool." (Note that these positions may provide permanent, full-time work to specific individuals.)

In-house Work- Unlike In-house Temporary , the usage of "in-house work" describes a situation in which a technical services firm conducts projects for customers at the technical services firm's own facility.

Indemnification- Indemnification in a contract requires a staffing company to be responsible for various potential legal claims involving temporary workers. These could include indemnification from staffing companies for claims filed by temporary workers who felt they were harassed by full-time company employees; sexual harassment complaints filed by temporary employees against customers; destruction of the client's facility; violent crimes committed by a temporary employee as well as other acts or omissions committed by the temporary employees working on the client's site.

Indemnification Payment- Applicable in some European countries (e.g, France, Spain). Statutory payment of a certain percentage of total wage earned by a temporary worker (assigned by a temporary agency) or temporary employee (hired directly by the user company), in order to compensate (indemnify) the individual for being assigned in an unstable job, and respectively out of work when the assignment ends. Also known as Précarité (France), Precariedad (Spain), or Precarietà (Italy).

Independent Contractor (IC)- A self-employed individual performing services for a company under contract rather than as an employee, either on- or off-site. (Also referred to as freelancers, consultants, and, in the United States, "1099s," which is the designation of the IRS form that companies use to report the money paid to independent contractors.) Unlike employees, independent contractors are free to perform their work as they see fit. In the United States, the IRS formerly used a twenty factor test to determine IC status, but now has a simplified three-factor test consisting of examinations of behavioural control (whether the client directs or controls the manner in which work is performed), financial control (of the timing and method of payment), and relationship of the parties (is the worker free to pursue other clients or in a binding relationship with the company). (See also: IRS Three Factor Test.) Similar methodology is used by tax authorities in European staffing markets to determine correct employment status. In the United Kingdom, IR35 legislation aims to eliminate the avoidance of tax and social insurance obligations through the use of intermediaries.

Industrial Staffing- The blue-collar segment of temporary help and permanent placement, which includes manufacturing personnel, factory workers, logistics/distribution staff, shipping and receiving clerks, materials handlers, and related occupations. "Light Industrial" often is used to refer to positions not requiring heavy labour, such as electronic assembly.

Information Technology (IT)- A sector of business services that includes IT staffing, IT solutions consulting and IT project management. Typically high-end programmers, systems engineers and applications experts.

Interim Executive- A high-level professional or executive temporary with managerial responsibilities, often hired to complete specific projects. Also referred to as "Interim Manager."

Interim Management- The provision of Interim Executives, most commonly by specialist Interim Management Firms.

International Labour Organization (ILO)- The ILO is a tripartite U.N. agency that brings together governments, employers and workers in common action to "promote decent work throughout the world". As such, the ILO is the only international regulatory body drafting conventions and recommendations on employment-related matters. Adopted in 1997, ILO Convention n°181 on Private Employment Agencies represented a dramatic reversal of the ILO position regarding the Agency Work industry: from prohibition (Convention n°96) to legal recognition and support of the development of the activities of private employment agencies.

IRS Three Factor Test- A simplified test of independent contractor status that replaces the previous IRS Twenty Factor test. The test considers behavior control, financial control and relationship of the parties. Behavior control requires independent contractors to be free from client control of how they complete their work. Financial control focuses on the business aspects of the relationship, such as whether the workers have a significant investment in their business, an opportunity for profit or loss and how they are paid. Relationship of the parties focuses on how the parties perceive their relationship and considers such factors as the presence or absence of a contract, access to benefits and ability to terminate the relationship. According to the IRS, the Three Factor Test is only an analytical tool. The legal test of whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor is whether there is "a right to direct and control the means and details of the work," which the Three Factor Test attempts to make more explicit. (See also: Independent Contractor.)

ISIC- International Standard Industrial Classification. See North American Industry Classification.

IT Services- IT services includes both IT staffing and IT solutions. IT solutions includes systems integration, more project-based work where the provider takes full responsibility for the project's completion.

Job Boards- Internet-based aggregations of either local, national or international job offerings. In most instances, employers pay up-front to advertise these job offerings, which differs from the cost model of Employment Agencies that charge a fee only when a Candidate has been successfully placed. Job Boards sometimes refer to themselves as Job Portals or Career Portals.

Job Order- Refers to a bona fide request to a staffing firm or employment agency to refer applicants for a specific position. A job order is the specific set of requirements set forth by an employer for an actual position.

Job Sharing- See Work Sharing.

Joint Employment- A U.S. legal term where two employers exercise significant and simultaneous control over the same employee. For example, when a temporary help or leasing firm exercises control over personnel matters while the client company exercises supervisory and workplace control. Both employers may be liable for payment of taxes, workplace safety, etc. Such relationships are sometimes not thought to be "joint-employment" relationships, because the client company is indemnified from some liabilities; but because control is shared significantly between the general employer and the client workplace supervisor, these may be considered "co-employer" relationships as well. (See also: Co-employment, General Employer, Indemnification.) Joint Employment is understood within Europe to describe a situation where an individual has two employers that are separate entities, although such an arrangement is not common.

Labour Contracting (Labour Leasing)- The provision of labour to a third party, usually providing limited or no benefits to the workers and for a limited time. Most commonly used to describe agricultural and construction contract labour arrangements. Sometimes used more broadly to include employee or staff leasing, temporary help, and other business services such as cleaning and security.

Labour on Demand- The entire non-employee population, inclusive of Contingent Workers and SOWs, ICs, etc. (See also: Contingent Work, Statement of Work, Independent Contractor.)

Licensee/Licensor- In the staffing industry, similar to a franchise relationship in that an independent party operates a staffing company's business in a designated territory. Unlike a franchise relationship, temporary employees are typically employed by, paid and billed by the licensor. The staffing firm that is the licensor typically counts as revenue the total system sales of its licensees and pays the local operator a fee usually based on gross margin. (See also: Franchise.)

Liquidated Damages- Compensation fee paid to a temporary staffing firm for the loss of an employee when the staffing firm's customer hires the temporary employee on a direct-hire basis. This is more typically known as a Conversion fee in Europe. Some full-service firms prefer to charge a "placement fee" rather than liquidated damages when this occurs. Many firms allow the liquidated damages or placement fee to be negotiated over a period of 30 to 180 days on the temporary assignment. (See also: Conversion Fee, Temporary-to-Permanent.)

Locum tenens- Latin for "holding the place." In healthcare staffing, locum tenens is a temporary physician who is substituting for a physician who is absent from his or her duties. This also refers to the segment of the healthcare staffing industry that provides these physicians.

Long-term Assignment- Usually refers to assignments of more than a year, but in some cases assignments more than six months are considered to be long-term. There is no legal guideline for what actually constitutes "long-term" in relation to jobs or employment. (See also: Short-term Assignment.)

Malpractice Insurance- Insurance coverage for a doctor or a lawyer, against liability claims resulting from alleged malpractice due to professional misconduct or lack of skills. Staffing firms providing locums tenens physicians typically provide their doctors with malpractice insurance coverage as part of their service.

Managed Service Provider (MSP)- A company that takes on primary responsibility for managing an organization's contingent workforce program. Typical responsibilities of an MSP include overall program management, reporting and tracking, supplier selection and management, order distribution and often consolidated billing. The vast majority of MSPs also provide their clients with a vendor management system (VMS) and may have a physical presence on the client's site. An MSP may or may not be independent of a staffing supplier.

Managed Services/Managed Staffing- Term used to describe facilities support management and outsourcing services. Refers to the on-site supervision or management of a function or department at a client (customer) site on an ongoing, indefinite basis. In the world of temporary staffing, these arrangements are also known as managed service providers (MSPs). (See also: Facilities Staffing.)

Margin- See Gross Margin and Operating Margin.

Mark-up- The percentage added to the temporary employee's hourly pay rate to reach the bill rate. (For example, a $15.00 bill rate and a $10.00 pay rate would compute to a 50% markup.) The markup percentage includes all selling, recruiting, general, direct payroll and administrative costs ("operating costs" in Europe) associated with providing temporary help services, plus profit. In the temporary staffing industry, mark-ups can vary even for a single supplier depending on the extent of direct recruiting, training, and other costs associated with providing a specific employee for a specific client assignment.

Master Supplier - A staffing supplier that takes overall responsibility for providing clients with temporary staff. In a master supplier relationship, all orders will usually go first to the master supplier to either be filled or distributed to secondary suppliers. Sometimes a master supplier will not only provide a significant portion of the temporary staff working at the employer's site but also manage an organization's contingent workforce program. Also known as Master Vendor. (See also: Vendor on Premises.)

Master Vendor- See Master Supplier.

Maverick Spending- See Rogue Spending.

Medical Staffing Services- See Healthcare Staffing Services.

NACE- Nomenclature Générale des Activités Economiques: (See North American Industry Classification System.)

Non-Professional Staffing- See Commercial Staffing.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)- The standard industry classification system used by U.S. Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments. NAICS is a two through six-digit hierarchical classification system, offering five levels of detail. Each digit in the code is part of a series of progressively narrower categories, and an increasing number of significant digits in the code signify greater classification detail. Use of the standard provides uniformity and comparability in the presentation of statistical data. The equivalent system in Europe is NACE (Nomenclature Générale des Activités Économiques dans les Communautés Européennes). NACE is administered by the European Commission and subject to legislation at a European level which imposes the use of the classification uniformly within Member States. There is also an International Standard Industrial Classification in existence which is administered by the United Nations. The latest version of NACE (Rev2), is based on

Off-boarding- The process of "checking-out" a contingent worker at the close of an assignment. May include final compensation, equipment return, and an exit interview among other steps.

Off-site- Business services provided for a client (customer) at the service provider's location, not at the client premises.

Office/Clerical Support- The second-largest market segment for temporary help, which includes secretaries, general office clerks, typists, word processing operators, and data-entry requiring no professional training. The standard definition also includes telemarketers, cashiers, product demonstrators, and other related office occupations. Also commonly referred to as "Clerical/Admin."

Offshore- In connection with banking, the meaning of the word “offshore” is obvious. According to Wikipedia, “An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of the depositor, typically in a low tax jurisdiction (or tax haven) that provides financial and legal advantages”. The term 'haven', meaning a harbour, has been mistranslated in French to produce the expression paradis fiscal, that is to say a heaven and not haven.

At its roots, the term offshore refers to a place that is located away from the mainland, an island for instance, or an oil platform. Used as an adverb, it can also describe a movement, e.g. the wind blowing or a boat moving away from the shore, or off the shore.

The term offshore bank has its origins in banks that were established on the British Channel Islands. However, many so called offshore banks are located onshore. The origin of low taxed financial jurisdictions can be traced back to the Middle Ages when trade wars arose between different countries and regions competing for economic dominance.

Reasons to locate banking centres on islands were quite simple: direct central control remained loose and weaker in terms of geography, law and historic allegiance than on the mainland. The offer of an offshore remedy of lower taxation and promises of anonymity and confidentiality as well as political stability were attractive to wealthier clients.

In the modern period, it is commonly accepted that the definition of offshore jurisdictions as tax havens was first formed after World War I. However, in the post-war years, companies became over-burdened by taxation. This is when corporate tax havens and the offshore tax industry were born. Companies were able to take advantage of tax treaties between their country and the offshore tax jurisdiction to reduce liabilities.

During the recent financial crisis, the word was used as a synonym for tax haven or tax shelter. Avoiding any logical reflection the term is used to describe foreign banks, corporations, investments, and deposits. Companies are moving offshore for reasons of tax avoidance or relaxed regulations. Banking transactions with non-residents are called offshore.

In recent years, a growing demand for regulated products and trends in tax harmonisation have further muddied the picture. The OECD has defined a set of terms that differentiate an International financial centre from a tax haven, and these terms are pretty clear. However, the definition of a tax haven often lies in the eye of the beholder.

On-boarding- The process of bringing a worker into a position with a goal of providing all necessary tools to be productive as soon as possible. On-boarding can apply to permanent hires as well as contingent workers. May include training, seat assignments, equipment requirements and other steps. Many ATSs and VMSs include on-boarding functionality.

On-site- Vendored or outsourced services provided to the client (customer) via supplier personnel located at the client site. Sometimes also referred to as in-house work (see definition).

On-site Management- Management of a department or function by the supplier at the client's site. (See also: Facilities Management, Managed Services/Managed Staffing.)

On-site Supervision- Supervision by the supplier at the client's site. (See also: Facilities Staffing.)

Operating Margin- Operating margin is a measure of profitability that tells how much of revenue will eventually become profit for a company. The formula for calculating operating margin is Operating Income divided by Revenue. As such, Operating Margin is a measurement of what proportion of a company's Revenue is left over, before taxes and other indirect costs. It typically excludes interest expense, nonrecurring items (such as accounting adjustments, legal judgments, or one-time transactions), and other income statement items not directly related to a company's core business operations. Also sometimes referred to as Return on Sales.

Outplacement- A service to guide a terminated employee of a company to a satisfactory new position or career through the provision of short- or long-term counselling and support services, on a group or individual basis, most often paid for by the terminating employer.

Outsourced Personnel- Outsourcing, whether to domestic, near-shore or offshore third-party firms, is typically a longer-term arrangement with even clearer delineation of methods, culture and degree of process ownership. Outsourced personnel, like SOW consultants, are typically employees of the outsourced provider. Some outsourced personnel are never seen at any of the facilities of the buying corporation; others can be very visible members of an IT, HR, cafeteria or security staff. (See also: Outsourcing, Statement of Work.)

Outsourced Service Contracts- A form of outsourcing whereby services are provided by an organization that has expertise in operating a specific client function. The firm contracts with the client not just to provide and supervise staff (as in temporary staffing), but to take on full-operational responsibilities for performing the function - generally peripheral to the client's core business - on an ongoing basis. (e.g., call center operations, IT help desk operations, food services, janitorial services, guard/security services, facilites management, lawn care services, etc.) Operations of this type may or may not be on client premises.

Outsourcing- Use of an outside business services vendor (and its supervised personnel), either on the customer's premises or off-site at the vendor's location, to perform a function or run a department that was previously staffed and supervised by the customer directly. (Sometimes, but not necessarily, limited to situations where some or all of the customer's previous staff performing that function are hired by the outsourcing vendor.) In Europe, certain legal obligations are placed on the outsourcing company. For example, in the United Kingdom, a formal Transfer of Undertakings Procedure (TUPE) applies to outsourced functions whereby the contracts of employment of all staff within the affected area are automatically transferred to the new employer, which then takes over all rights and obligations arising from those contracts of employment, except criminal liabilities and pension obligations.

Part-time Work- Work for a single employer that is regularly scheduled and ongoing but is less than full-time - either for less than a full day, or less than five days a week, or for only part of the year (e.g., summer jobs for students). Part-time employees are usually not temporary workers, because part-timers generally work a regular schedule as a direct-hire on an ongoing, indefinite basis. However, some temporary jobs are for shorter weekly working hours and could be classified as part-time.

Partnering- Long-term commitments focusing on "win-win" relationships between customers and suppliers (or among suppliers) that add value to both parties through increased sales, reduced expenses, and/or greater productivity.

Payroll Service- A business service that provides payroll processing, pay-check writing, and payroll tax administration, for a fee. No co-employer or joint employer relationship exists; it is plainly an administrative function. The service can be provided by specialist payroll companies or directly by staffing companies.

Payrolling- As it relates to contingent staffing, Payrolling is the provision of longer-term temporary workers to a customer where the workers have been recruited (possibly interviewed, tested and approved) by the customer but become, in effect, employees of the supplier providing the payroll services. This may occur in an instance when only the customer has the proper knowledge and experience to properly evaluate potential workers. Some argue that Payrolling occurs only where no benefits are provided - otherwise, it resembles employee leasing. Others say that the Payrolling arrangements are temporary in nature and usually only involve a specific client function or position, not all or a significant portion of a client's workforce as in employee leasing. Payrolling services are typically billed at significantly lower mark-ups than traditional temporary staffing because the staffing firm has not incurred any recruiting costs.

Per Diem- Daily living expenses paid to technical, travel nurses, or other skilled temporary or contract employees while they are employed at a distant location requiring housing away from home, or during a period while they are relocating.

Can also refer to billing by the day (instead of hourly billing) or shorthand for nurses provided on a daily basis rather than a travel basis.

Perm- Short for permanent, usually permanent placement.

Perma-temps- A colloquial expression used to describe long-term temporary workers who successfully sued Microsoft Corp. in the U.S., in a case that began in 1996. It is an amalgam of "permanent" and "temporary." Microsoft eventually settled with plaintiffs for approximately $100 million. As a result of the high-profile nature of the case, many companies began looking at their temporary worker policies with much greater scrutiny.

Permanent Placement- The bringing together of a job seeker and a prospective employer for the purpose of effecting a traditional employment relationship, for a fee. Also refers to the process of arranging such a relationship. This term is now falling out of favour because the use of "permanent" can connote a guarantee of employment that is generally misleading for a typical "at-will" employee. (See also: Placement, Direct Hire.)

Phased Retirement- Gradual retirement brought about by the reduction of full-time employment commitments over a set period of time.

Place- The act of placing a job applicant in a traditional, direct-employment role.

Placement- The result of effecting a traditional direct employment relationship, usually used to describe a successful referral by an employment agency. "Placement" generally implies the marketing of applicants to employers, rather than the recruitment of applicants for a specific employer position.

Placement Agency- An employment agency that seeks to refer applicants seeking employment to employers seeking employees. A fee is charged either to the employer or the applicant (rarely) after a successful referral.

Placement Fee- The fee due to an agency when a referred candidate is hired by a direct employer, typically in the range of 15% to 35% of annual salary. Fee calculations are usually based on salary - one month's salary, a fixed percentage (e.g., 20% of annual salary), or a percentage that increases with the salary level (e.g., 1% per thousand).

Placement Services- Services provided by a staffing service to an organization to locate a properly skilled employee with the ultimate goal of a traditional direct hire employer-employee relationship with the client; may include "temp-to-perm" services. (See also: Temporary-to-Permanent.)

Planned Staffing- Contracting for the regular use of temporaries to handle peak production periods, seasonal activities or special projects. May involve the supplementation of a customer's traditional workforce, or the provision of a temporary workforce to handle a project that occurs periodically. (The concept of "Planned Staffing" differs from "Facilities Staffing" in that planned staffing refers to cyclical or intermittent staffing needs, while facilities staffing refers to the process of "planning turnover" in a continuous function. However, as might be expected, these terms are often used interchangeably.)

Precariedad- Statutory in Spain. See Indemnification Payment.

Precarietà- Statutory in Italy. See Indemnification Payment.

Precarious Work- A pejorative definition used to describe non-standard forms of work including contingent work. A similar pejorative term also used occasionally is "Atypical Work."

Précarité- Statutory in France. See Indemnification Payment.

Primary Suppliers- Two or more suppliers that have the majority of a company's staffing requirements distributed to them, in lieu of or underneath an MSP arrangement. They may be on-site and they may also be in a competitive bid situation or not. (See also: Managed Service Provider.)

Professional Employer Organization (PEO)- A staffing industry service that assumes, via contract, a significant portion of employer responsibilities and associated risk for either part or all of a client's workforce. In this situation, employees are typically employed by the PEO but work on an indefinite basis under the control and direction of the client organization. (See also: Employee Leasing.)

Professional Employer Services- In addition to assuming a significant portion of employer responsibilities for a client company's workforce, additional services may include many human resource functions such as recruitment, drug testing, etc. However, the PEO does not have accountability or responsibilities in regards to output or results. (See also: Employee Leasing.)

Professional Staffing- A segment of temporary staffing that includes workers in IT/technical, engineering, accounting and finance, legal, sales and marketing, and managerial functions, among others. This segment contrasts to commercial (or traditional) staffing. While there is common consensus on how to categorize the highest and lowest skilled workers, there is a blurring of boundaries when it comes to medium skilled/middle management roles. Within these categories (such as sales & marketing, nursing, social care, and HR), what some people call professional staffing, others might call commercial staffing. Such variation exists among the categories used by different national staffing associations to estimate the size and growth of their respective markets.( See also: Specialist Staffing.)

Purchase Order- A pre-approval for spending on a specific product or service. Some organizations require the issuance and approval of a purchase order before a contingent worker may be employed.

Reasons of Use- A legal term used in some European countries (i.e., Spain, Belgium and France) to denote the fact that the use of temporary workers must by justified by certain pre-defined "reasons of use," such as replacement of absent workers, absorption of activity peaks, etc. Both the scope and approval process for Reason of Use differ by country.

Recruiting- The process of locating and screening a candidate or candidates for an employer as part of a search assignment. Also used to describe overall general efforts to bring in temporary employees. "Recruitment" generally implies the search for candidates who meet specific client specifications rather than the marketing of available applicants to employers. It is also often used by corporate human resources departments.

Recruitment Company or Recruitment Agency or Recruitment Firm- A company providing recruitment services; however, the term may be used to refer to companies that provide both permanent placement as well as other services such as temporary staffing.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)- A category of human resource outsourcing applying specifically to recruitment matters. Typically involves an organization taking on responsibility for all or most parts of an organization's recruiting process for direct hire employees. (See also: Business Process Outsourcing.)

Recruitment to Recruitment (Rec to Rec)- The provision of niche permanent placement services to staffing companies in order to meet their own hiring requirements.

Refer, Referral- The act of sending a specific applicant or candidate from an agency to a client for consideration for employment. Also can refer to one search professional's sending a candidate to another search professional who may have an open order that fits that candidate.

Registry- A listing of persons available for work within a specific occupation, such as nursing or modeling. Most registries charge referral fees to the registrants.

Regular Part-time Work- Refers to part-time employment that includes the same rights and prorated benefits available to regular full-time employees of an organization. (See also: Part-time Work.)

Regular Work- This term is replacing "permanent work" as a way of describing a direct, ongoing, fulltime and non-contingent two-party employment relationship between an employer and an employee. This is also referred to as traditional work.

Request for Information (RFI)- An invitation to suppliers to provide information about their company and solution capabilities in order to assess the marketplace for available solutions to a business problem and whether the company would qualify for a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ) (see definitions).

Request for Proposal (RFP)- An invitation for suppliers to bid on a specific product or service. This document typically involves much more than the price. It may include basic corporate information and history, financial information, technical capability, product information and estimated completion period, and customer references. RFPs are sent to an approved supplier or vendor list. The bidders return a proposal by a set date and time.

Request for Quotation (RFQ)- An invitation for suppliers to present a price or quotation to a business problem as described.

Requisition- A formal written request for a particular job or services that has specific and unique requirements.

Retained Search- Service provided by an executive search firm to locate a candidate for a specific position at a client company. Fee is payable whether or not a hire is made. (See also: Contingency Recruiting.)

Reverse Auction- A Candidate selection process in which staffing companies bid on the opportunity to make a placement. The company with the opportunity sets the parameters of the auction (i.e. skill-set requirements, pricing limits, etc) and bids may or may not be blind, or not known to other bidders. Whereas a traditional auction features multiple buyers and a single seller, reverse auctions have a single buyer (the company with the opportunity) and multiple sellers (the staffing companies). Reverse auctions are also used in an RFP or RFQ process, and usually carried out online.

RFx- A generic term in procurement used to describe the vendor selection process. May include an RFI and RFP, or in RFQ and RFI, or some permutation thereof.

Rogue Spending- Spending with staffing suppliers outside of pre-negotiated contracts or the guidelines of the organization's contingent workforce program. Also called Maverick Spending.

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX/Sarbox)- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 or the American Competitiveness and Corporate Accountability Act of 2002. Sarbanes-Oxley requires that publicly traded companies tighten financial controls and audits; CEOs and CFOs must sign off on the accuracy and truth of financial reports. In particular, SOX Section 404 deals with certifying the sufficiency of controls for detecting fraudulent, questionable, or unauthorized activity that could impact company financial statements. In many cases, Section 404 requires companies to take responsibility for the internal controls of service providers in addition to their own. A SAS 70 Type II Audit is one way to accomplish this.

SAS 70 Type II Audit- An audit that assesses a service provider's internal controls over a period of at least six months and conforms to the Statement on Auditing Standard 70 (SAS 70.) A SAS 70 Type II audit is recognized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an acceptable way of obtaining an auditor's opinion for Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Section 404. Furthermore, companies that use service providers such as staffing suppliers or MSPs may request that their service provider conduct a SAS 70 Type II audit of its controls as part of a SOX-compliance effort

Search Research- Any of a variety of unbundled sourcing research services provided to corporate recruiters or third-party executive search firms, usually by sole practitioners, involving identification of potential candidates at competitive firms, pre-screening, reference-checking, and other search-related research

Secondment- Temporary loan, attachment or detachment of an employee to another company (external) or department (internal), for a specified task and predetermined length of time. While assigned elsewhere, the seconded stays on the payroll of his employer and the employer will charge the receiving company or department a fee. In some countries, temporary agencies may (e.g. the Netherlands) or be legally obliged to (e.g. Germany, Denmark) assign temporary workers as secondees, meaning that the temporary worker will be entitled to receive payment even if no assignment is available.

Self Employed- An individual who operates a business or profession as a sole proprietor, independentcontractor or consultant. See Independent Contractor.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)- A document describing the (minimum) levels of service quality asupplier should comply with. Common examples applicable for the staffing industry are: time-to-fill ajob-request, maximum invoice corrections in a given period, and time-to-solve a complaint. An SLA, ifapplicable, usually is part of a general services agreement or contract.

Short-term Assignment- Refers to a work assignment of limited duration. The duration implied hereis open to some debate. Most would agree that "short-term" means employment of a year or less. )Seealso: Long-term Assignment.)

Single-source Leasing- The provision of employees and equipment by a single leasing source, as inthe case of a driver leasing company that supplies trucks and drivers to its customers.

Single-source Supplier- The provision of all staffing services employees through a single suppliersource. Also referred to as "Sole Supplier."

Sole Employer- The traditional two-party, employer-employee work relationship in which a workerhas a single employer, as compared to a co-employment relationship or joint employer status.Sole Supplier - A sourcing method in which only one supplier is selected to provide all services for acustomer, maybe within a service line, geography or for an entire program. (See also: Sourcing Model,Master Supplier.)

Solutions Business- Most often used when describing the provision of IT services as a total "solution"or package customized to an organization's specific needs. Solutions work is typically sold on a fixedfeebasis rather than a time basis. Used to distinguish from "staffing," which is the simple provision of aperson or persons to fulfil a specific work assignment. (See also: Outsourcing.)

Sourcing Model- The method by which a company identifies, selects, receives, and pays for contingentworkers and related services. Companies may employ more than one sourcing model within a contingentworkforce program. Sourcing Models can be identified by a company's position along three independentaxes: competitiveness, rate elasticity, and vendor integration. Competitiveness is the degree towhich staffing agencies are invited to bid against each other with respect to submission time, candidatequality, and price. Typical options include sole-source, primaries, structured tiers, and open bidding.Rate elasticity is the degree to which CW demand affects rates, with options including fixed rate cards,pay range plus mark-up, max bill rates, and open bill rates. Vendor integration is the degree to which acompany uses external resources, with options including complete program outsourcing, on-site administrativesupport, off-site transaction support, and no use at all.

SOW Consultant- See Statement of Work (SOW) Consultant.

SOX/Sarbox- See Sarbanes-Oxley.

Special Employer- A U.S. legal term referring to the client employer's legal relationship to theemployee in a joint-employer relationship, which usually includes responsibility for day-to-day supervisionat the worksite. (See also: General Employer.)

Specialist Staffing/Specialty Staffing- A term used as an alternative to "Professional Staffing," i.e.,a segment of temporary staffing that includes workers in IT/technical, engineering, accounting andfinance, legal, sales and marketing, and managerial functions, among others. (See also: ProfessionalStaffing.)

Spend Under Management- The amount of currency that was actually invoiced by suppliers (typicallyin an MSP/VMS relationship) for work performed during a given time frame. This excludes spending thathas been identified, but not yet rolled into the program. Suppliers and program managers sometimesdescribe this spending by breaking it out by job family (professional and commercial) and by workerclassification (contract labor, SOW, outsource service contract).

Splits- Splits are formal or informal agreements between staffing firms to "split" a temporary ordirect hire placement (and a fee) if one firm has the job order and another has an acceptable candidate.The Web has facilitated this in various ways, with both exchanges and job networks. Within individualstaffing firms a split fee may refer to the internal assignment of commission where one office or consultanthas the job order and another office or consultant provides the candidate.

Staff Leasing- See Employee Leasing.

Staff-sourcing- A concept that seeks to distinguish the HR outsourcing function from the staff leasingco-employment relationship. "Staff sourcing" refers to the provision of various Payrolling and personneladministration services without the assumption of a general employer role.

Staffing- Abbreviated term for "Temporary Staffing." (See also: Temporary Staffing.)

Staffing Association- An organization that represents and promotes the interests of the staffing industryand provides political lobbying and other services to its members. Members normally comprisestaffing companies but may also include other ancillary service providers depending on the constitutionof the association. Also referred to as Staffing Federation. Examples of staffing associations are theASA (American Staffing Association), the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) in the UnitedKingdom, and PRISME (Professionnels de l'intérim d'emploi) in France. Many countries have morethan one staffing association and some associations represent niche interest groups such as APSCO(Association of Professional Staffing Companies) in the United Kingdom. At a global level, CIETT is theInternational Confederation of Employment Agencies and represents more than 40 national staffingassociations. Aligned to CIETT is Eurociett, which seeks to protect the interests of the staffing industryat a European level and negotiates with social partners on EU-related matters.

Staffing Company / Staffing Agency / Staffing Firm- A company providing staffing services.

Staffing Industry- A broad grouping of staffing- and employment-related services where a staffingfirm, supplier, broker, agent, or consultant provides employment or help supply services to an organizationthat involves its own employees or the client's potential or previous employees. Major sectors of thestaffing industry include temporary staffing, place and search, PEO/staff leasing and outplacement.

Staffing Services- A generic term that refers to a wide range of employment services, including temporarystaffing, employee leasing/PEO services, direct hire/placement services or outplacement.

Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)- The 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)system is used by U.S. federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories forthe purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of morethan 820 occupations according to their occupational definition. The United Nations administers theInternational Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC) and national classificationstend to relate to this global initiative. In the European Union, since 1990, members states havebeen obliged to conform to Standard Industrial Classification (SIC92).

Statement of Work (SOW)- A document that captures the work products and services, including, butnot limited to: the work activities and deliverables to be supplied under a contract or as part of a projecttimeline. In contrast to a typical temp or contingent work arrangement which is billed based ontime worked, SOW agreements are usually billed based on a fixed price deliverable or for hitting specificmilestones. Like typical contingent arrangements, they may also be billed based on time, includingarrangements where there is a time-based billing that is capped at some "not to exceed" level for timeand materials (See also: Statement of Work (SOW) Consultant.)

Statement of Work (SOW) Consultant- Any consultant performing work on a project under a Statementof Work (SOW) arrangement. In contrast to agency consultants, SOW consultants are typically,but not always given a regular, consistent salary by their employer and continue to receive this salarywhen off project assignments (i.e., "benched resource"). While SOW consultants are typically employedby consulting firms, a host of technology and other staffing firms have also entered the solutions spacefor its greater premium margins (the theory being that you are paying for the firm's proven methodologyand chemistry of the team). At times "rogue" managers have used an SOW arrangement in order toavoid restrictions on the use of temporary workers or agency consultants (See also: Statement of Work.)

Statement on Auditing Standard (SAS) 70- A method established by the American Institute of CertifiedPublic Accountants (AICPA) for telling an auditor how to assess and issue an official auditor's reportabout a service provider's internal controls. Standard 70 focuses on services that could impact a serviceuser's financial reporting, including payroll services, benefits claims processing, outsourced IT operationsor data centres, and vendor management services or software. An SAS Type I audit presents asnapshot of the service provider's controls at a moment in time, whereas a Type II audit presents thosesame controls in operation over a period of at least six months and is recognized by the Securities andExchange Commission (SEC) as an acceptable way of obtaining an auditor's opinion for Sarbanes-Oxley(SOX) Section 404. (See Also: SAS 70 Type II Audit). SAS 70 reports are issued on every continent andcountry leading to various audit and accounting standards being used. To address the inevitable overlapthat arises from multiple similar standards, an initiative was started in 2007 by the International Auditingand Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). The goal of the IAASB initiative is to issue two new internationalstandards for reports on controls at service organizations. One of the two standards will be foruser organizations and their auditors (ISA 402), while the second standard will be for service organizationsand service auditors (ISEA 3402). Both ISA 402 and ISAE 3402 are assurance reports which aim toprovide insight into the controls at a third-party service organization.

Strategic Staffing- The pre-planned use of alternative or flexible staffing strategies by the customer.May include the use of temp-to-perm hiring, planned temporary staffing for work cycle peaks or projects,or payrolling, for example.

Structured Tiers- Selection of multiple suppliers in a specific priority, usually based on pricing level,combined with size and capacity. (See also: Sourcing Model.)

Supplemental Staffing- The provision of temporary workers to a client company to supplement thecurrent workforce for peak loads, special projects, or planned and unplanned worker absences. Alsodescribes the regular practice of using contract healthcare staff in hospitals and other medical institutionsettings.

Supplier Management- See Vendor Management.

Technical Services- The provision of technical and engineering personnel including engineers, computerprogrammers, systems analysts, designers, drafters, writers, editors and illustrators.

Technical Services Firm- A firm that locates, recruits, and hires technical and/or engineering skilledpersonnel and then contracts with another company to assign its workers at the customer's location fora specified duration and/or project.

Telecommuting- Working at home, or at another off-site (satellite) location, for an organization whoseoffice is located elsewhere, with one-way or (usually) two-way electronic linkage to that organization viaphone, fax, modem, and/or the Internet or a company Intranet. Home work may be full-time, occasional,or a scheduled part of the workweek.

Temp- Common abbreviation or colloquial expression for temporary worker.

Temp-to-Direct- See Temporary-to-Permanent.

Temp-to-Hire- See Temporary-to-Permanent.

Temporary Employee ("Temporary")- An employee who performs work for an organization with theexpectation that the work will be for a fixed duration. Temporary employees may be hired directly by theemployer or sourced through a staffing company and work fulfilling client assignments. May also referto temporary workers from an internal pool employed directly by an organization for an intentionallylimited time period.

Temporary Help- The furnishing of employees to meet the short-term and/or project needs of anotheremployer. Originally used primarily as replacements for office or light industrial workers, temporaryhelp has come to be used across a broad range of skills and occupations. Most of the companies deliveringthis service are now referred to as staffing firms or temporary staffing firms.

Temporary Help Company- An organization engaged in the business of furnishing its own employees(temporaries) to handle customers' temporary staffing and special projects needs. A temporary helpcompany recruits, trains, and tests these employees, then assigns them to clients for a finite (albeitsometimes very extended) time period.

Temporary Placement- A term that is often used to distinguish between the temporary help servicesof a staffing firm and its "permanent placement" activities. In a legal sense, the term may be usedincorrectly, because "placement" refers to affecting an employment relationship, and providing a temporaryworker involves the provision of a service by a person already employed by a temporary firm.

Temporary Pool- A group of in-house employees hired directly by a company and used to fill temporaryjob assignments at that company.

Temporary Staffing- A segment of the staffing industry that provides temporary help and related staffingservices to businesses and other clients. The temporary staff provided are recruited, screened, possiblytrained, and employed by the temporary staffing provider, then assigned to client organizations .Although the customer typically assumes supervisory responsibility for these workers, in certain servicearrangements coordination or supervisory functions may be provided by the supplier.

Temporary-to-Permanent (Temp-to-Perm)- Transition of a temporary worker to permanent employmentstatus. This may be on an ad hoc reactive basis where an employer finds that a temporary workercan fulfil a permanent job vacancy or a more formal employment service concept where a client companyproactively plans to make a traditional hiring decision during or after a temporary help assignment.In a "temp-to-perm" situation, only temporary workers who are also seeking a similar type of traditional job would be sent on the assignment. The term is falling out of favour due to aversion to the use of "permanent" when referring to a typical "at-will" employment situation. The fee for transitioning a temporary worker in this way would normally be charged at a discount to the staffing company's standard permanent placement fee and normally related to the length of time the temporary has been assigned to the client. Temp-to-perm fees may be subject to legislation in certain European jurisdictions. (Other terms used to describe this process are temp-to-direct, temp-to-hire, try-before-hire or try-before-buy.)

The Fair Labour Standards- In the labour law of each EU Member state general and nationwide application, including Overtime, Minimum Wages, Child Labour Protections, and the Equal Pay Act.

Third-party (Web) Exchange- A developing area of business-to-business (B2B) that permits the sharingof job orders and candidates among staffing companies through a neutral third party. It is developedon the concept that no single staffing company can fill all of its job orders nor have assignments for allof the candidates in its database.

Time and Expense System- A system and method for collecting and recording time and expenses.Time and Expense systems can be stand-alone products or integrated in other applications, such asVMS or ERP software.Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) - A business analysis that assesses cost to include direct cost (purchasingprice) and indirect cost (related to the use of a service or product). In temporary staffing services,this is often used by employers to ask temporary staffing agencies for proposals to decrease the totalcost of using temporary employees, besides the hourly bill rate. Options to reduce TCO are implementingspecific Sourcing Models (see definition), close monitoring (e.g., consolidated reporting), or additionalservices like wage management.

Traditional Employment- 5-Re\'4Fur preferred term for what previously has been called "permanent"employment. Because no job is truly permanent, "traditional employment" provides a better contrast to"contingent employment."

Traditional Staffing- A segment of temporary staffing that includes, but is not limited to, workers withthe skills, knowledge and training required for occupations in light industrial, office/clerical and generallabour categories. Sometimes referred to as "Commercial Staffing."

Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE)- U.K. regulation designed to protectthe rights of (temporary) employees in a situation in which an undertaking - in part or whole- is transferred, including continuity, conditions and terms of work. This can be important when anemployer with an existing contract for the provision of temporary workers is acquired by another companythat has different agreed-upon pay rates or working times.

Try-before-Buy- See Temporary-to-Permanent

Try-before-Hire- See Temporary-to-Permanent

Umbrella Agreement- Contract with a supplier defining the general conditions and the subsidiaries,services, geographical regions or job-profiles included. For the respective deliverables of the supplierspecific additional conditions might apply.

Umbrella Company- A service offered in the United Kingdom whereby an umbrella company actsas an employer to independent contractors (ICs) working on temporary assignments usually provided bya staffing company. When using ICs to fill temporary positions, staffing companies in the United Kingdomoften opt to issue contracts to an umbrella company as it can help to reduce their liabilities. Manystaffing companies have partnerships with preferred umbrella companies. Using an umbrella companycan also be a practical choice for ICs as it removes the hassle of setting up their own limited companyand ensures that they meet the tests used to identify employment status for tax purposes. Mostumbrella companies provide a payroll solution and also take care of all the required administrative taskssuch as accounting and financial reports that independent contractors need to process.

Variable Time Programs- Time/income trade-offs that enable full-time employees to reducework hours for a specified period of time with a corresponding reduction in pay.

Vendor List- A list of approved vendors that an organization can consider using to fill its staffingneeds. Organizations typically manage their approved vendor list as a way to control rogue spendingwith suppliers that have not negotiated a favourable contract with the company.

Vendor Management System (VMS)- An Internet-enabled, often Web-based application that acts as amechanism for business to manage and procure staffing services (temporary help as well as, in somecases, permanent placement services) as well as outside contract or contingent labour. Typical featuresof a VMS include order distribution, consolidated billing and significant enhancements in reportingcapability over manual systems and processes.

Vendor Management/Supplier Management- A comprehensive approach to managing an enterprise'sinteractions with the organizations that supply the goods and services it uses. Vendor managementincludes both business practices and software (e.g. VMS) and attempts to streamline and make moreeffective the processes between an enterprise and its vendors.

Vendor Neutral- A term used to describe a model in which a managed services or VMS technologyhandles its tasks (e.g. order distribution or candidate selection) based on client-defined policies thatmandate that all (or a pre-defined set of) staffing suppliers (vendors) be (a) given an equal opportunityto fill each order, and/or (b) selected for each order based on the same criteria. Under a vendor-neutralmodel, a managed services or VMS provider could not, on its own accord, push orders to itself or anyother staffing vendor. The presumed advantage of a vendor-neutral model is that the best supplier withthe best candidate will fill each position. The term is sometimes used in a stricter form to refer to anindependent managed service provider that is completely autonomous, or semi-autonomous, from thestaffing suppliers. A common alternative model is a combined MSP/master supplier approach. Here the master supplier also acts as the MSP, and, with the full support and knowledge of the client, pushes a disproportionateshare of orders to itself. Orders it cannot fill itself are sent to other staffing suppliers. The presumedadvantage of this approach is volume pricing discounts for the client, and potentially a supplier that getsto know the client's needs more intimately.

Vendor on Premises (VOP)- On-site coordination of a customer's temporary help services through anexclusive, long-term general contractor relationship with a temporary help company. The designatedvendor on premise may enter into subcontracting relationships with other temporary help suppliers, orsuch relationships may be specified by the customer.

Vendor Tiering- Model in which vendors are invited to fill positions in a well-defined order and oftenwith time triggers. For example, a temporary vacancy will go to Tier 1 vendors first, and then to Tier 2vendors if not filled within a certain time period.

Vendoring- The provision of business services by an outside supplier (vendor), where the vendorbrings its own employees on-site to perform a specific function, such as running a cafeteria or providingsecurity services, or uses its own employees off-site to perform a specific function that was formerlydone by the customer. (See also: Outsourcing and Insuring.)

Vendoring Out- Contracting with an outside business service to provide either on-site or off-site vendoredservices that may have been previously handled directly by the customer. (See also: Outsourcing.)

W-2 Employees- Workers who are paid hourly on a regular basis and work with a staffing firmthat handles their payroll.

W-2 Employees- Workers who are paid hourly on a regular basis and work with a staffing firmthat handles their payroll.

Women and Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE)- Suppliers that meet government criteria toqualify them as being women- or minority-owned. (See also: Diversity Supplier.)

Work Order- Refers to a request from an organization for a specific type of service to be provided byone or more temporary employees for a specific period of time.

Work Sharing- The situation in which two or more workers may "share" one full-time position at acompany, often for the purpose of schedule flexibility. The workers often stagger their schedule in orderto meet outside personal commitments such as family responsibilities. In other cases, an employer,in lieu of a layoff, may combine two jobs into one and retain both workers, each working a reducedschedule.

Workers' Compensation- Financial compensation to an employee for work-related injuries, inparticular compensation of loss of wages, sometimes also for medical costs. Typically one of the majorcosts that staffing firms are responsible for, and in occupations such as industrial staffing, the cost ofworkers' compensation insurance is significant in determining profitability.

Workforce Mix Optimization- The practice of using the right percentage of each workforce category(employees or contingent workers) to accomplish corporate objectives as profitably and safely aspossible.

Working Time Regulations Act (WTR)- Legal Act in the United Kingdom that regulates the timean employee can be required to work and the rests and breaks employees are entitled to. Includes minimumconditions that apply for Agency Workers.

Works Council- A organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to national labour negotiations. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of related forms in a number of European countries. Works councils can also be formed in non-unionized companies. Works council representatives may also be appointed to the Board of Directors. The aim of works councils is to reduce workplace conflict by improving and systematizing communication channels; to increase bargaining power of workers by means of legislation; and to correct market failures by means of public policy. In 1994, the European Union passed a Directive (94/45/EC) on the establishment of a European Works Council (EWC) or similar procedure for the purposes of informing and consulting employees in companies which operate at European Union level. The EWC Directive applies to companies with at least 1,000 employees within the European Union and at least 150 employees in each of at least two Member States. The Agency Workers Directive includes the requirement that Agency Workers should be included in employee headcount for this purpose. In some markets, temporary workers may actually be represented on Works Councils (sometimes after a qualifying period).